Hide and Seek
by kyotoprincess
Summary: Oz wants accept everything happening around him but can't. So he tries to find shelter in the recesses of his mind. Then Jack comes to him in his time of need. JackXOz.
1. Hiding and Seeking

Special thanks to TrickyFrog's Lost and Found for giving me this insperation. I really love her story plus that delicious 'Bonus Cake' edition.

Anywhoo, I want to congradulate myself for feeling such emotion while writing this. I mean, I really liked this story and I hope others do too! Reviews and whatnot are always apperciated.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, obviously. I only manipulate the characters to my will :)

Me: Now... Who wants to give me a hug?!

Everyone:....

Me: Fine! Then Jack, can I have a hug?

Jack: Sure. *hugs* x3

_

* * *

_

_What?…_

_Where am I?…_

The moon brightly shone outside, mocking the young boy who sat quietly on his bed. He held his knees to his chest tightly, hoping his heart doesn't explode. The windows were wide up, letting the silent coldness drift inside, settling on top of everything in the dark room. The only light emitted from the moon. Having trouble sleeping, he buried his head into his knees, trembling so slightly. He **wanted** to accept the fact that he might relive Jack's pervious life. He **wanted** to accept that his life was slowly ticking away that it drove him to the brink of insanity. He **wanted** to accept that he was Jack, or so people would say. He **wanted** to accept that he himself could accept everything happening around him. He couldn't after all. Using a 'impenetrable shield' as some people would call it, he cowardly hid behind it, seeking for refuge; a haven from all this. He even feared going to that place where the hero of Sabrie lingers around. He didn't want to see him, not now. In fact, he just wanted to be Oz Bezarius, just plain old Oz. He wanted to be Oz playing pranks on Gil; Oz hiding with Ada in closets and rooms; Oz angering Ms. Kate; just Oz. He never asked for this, did he? He never said 'Sure! Take me to the Abyss!'. _I never asked for any of this!_ He mentally yelled. He closed his eyes tighter. Really, he just wished he could find somewhere that was safe; someone that could comfort him.

When he opened his eyes, he was floating in a sea of darkness. He turned around and around and found nothing to be in sight. _Where am I?_ He abruptly closed his eyes, fearing any voices that came and the memories that came along with it. He shook his head, hoping to go back into the cold, dark room that he slept it. His eyes shot open as he felt himself falling down. There was only darkness, no light shining, telling him that he died already. He felt the air quickly pass between his arms and legs, numbing him to anything. He blinked and saw an ocean of blue glow. Astonished, he sat up and looked around, seeing nothing as usual. Bitterly smiling, he felt as if this is the 'haven' he wanted. He wrapped his arms around himself, still bitterly smiling. It was as if he was in a trance as he stared at the back horizon.

"Oz?"

He was snapped back to 'reality'. His head shot up and turned to where the voice was coming from, behind him. A ghostly figure with a emerald green jacket with matched emerald green eyes gazed at him, a look of concern clear on his face. _Jack…_ He stood up to make his standing position and distracted himself by dusting off some dust from his pants. He started to laugh softly, hoping to calm the atmosphere around him. He really didn't want anyone to know, especially Jack.

"Hehe hey Jack! I didn't think I would see you here,"

But really, the Bezarius didn't think that he would see Jack here in a melancholy place. It wasn't like Jack at all. He put up his 'shield' and warmly smiled at Jack, hoping it would be enough to reassure the male. Jack stared at first, pondering whether or not that smile, let alone that chuckle, was real. When he saw that seemingly warm smile almost unnoticeable twitched, he knew that Oz was putting a front. He lowered his eyes, letting the sadness, concern and pity fill his eyes, drowning the bright emerald green into a dark green.

"Oz, you don't have to put a front around me,"

Oz blinked twice, shocked at the dark, cold tone of his voice. He looked at the male and saw many conflicting emotions drown in his eyes. He stared in awe at those sorrow-filled eyes. It reminded the boy of someone. As he continued to stare, he saw a vision of him overlapped with the saddening look of Jack's. Oz gasped, taking a hesitating step back, away from himself. His eyes were wide with fear. He didn't want to be anyone but **him.** Jack saw a glimpse of fear cross the teen's eyes. Immediately, Jack broke his trance and held a hand out and gently caressed the frighten teen.

"Are you alright, Oz?"

Oz snapped back and slapped Jack's hand away, still frighten, still fearing. He hadn't noticed that he stopped breathing for a couple of seconds. He was surprised that he didn't even feel the contact on his cheek. _No,_ what surprised the Bezarius was the warmth he felt that overcame the coldness of his cheek. Unconsciously, he tightened his hand and looked back down to the floor. He let the bangs of his gold hair cover his eyes. He swallowed, fearing that he might choke on his words. But in the end, he couldn't say what he wanted to say. He couldn't say 'Yeah, I'm fine'. He just said what his heart told him to.

"No, I'm not. I don't think I am, at least"

Even though the last sentence was a lie, Oz had to say it, hoping that Jack could just drop it and leave him in this dark and shallow place. Jack shockingly stared at the boy. He expected that Oz would lie to him yet again and tell him that he was 'quite' alright but when he heard what Oz said, well it sort of made him, inside,_ happy_…in a way. Oz lifted his head up, staring back at those emerald eyes. If he was going to tell the truth he might as well look at him face to face. He saw something pass through those eyes of Jack's, making him regret telling the truth. Taking a deep breath, he was going to laugh and tell him that he was joking.

"Jack, I--"

Sudden arms found themselves wrapping around the young boy. Oz felt oddly warm and light-headed as the color of his cheeks turned slightly pink. He felt the beats of his heart sped up so much that he felt like he was going to die. His face was softly against the older male's jacket. He felt his body slightly tremble against the man as they stayed their for the moment, in their own comfort. Jack buried his head against the gentle tresses of Oz. Jack too felt **safe**; happy if one would call it. He held the young boy's held and tightly shut his eyes, fearing tears might form. Oz started to breath fast as all the blood rushed to his head. So much was happening so fast and seeing this side of Jack sort of scared him. Jack softly sighed against the head and reluctantly released his grip around him, losing all blissful feelings. Oz felt the warmth slowly fading away until he realized that Jack had released him and was now staring longingly at him. He stared at him. _I don't want it gone,_ he selfishly thought. He held a hand out, yearning.

"Oz, are you--"

Jack was shocked to find Oz's small, trembling arms wrapped around his waist and his face buried against his chest, feeling the soft breaths of air against his clothing. He gasped slightly as he felt the slightly trembling boy tremble more, as if he was about to fall on his knees. Jack wrapped his slender arms around the boy as they both fell on their knees, holding each other in comfort and pure bliss. Oz tired to bury himself in Jack. He didn't want to leave, he didn't want to go to the cruel reality of the world around him. _I'm pretty selfish_, he bitterly thought.

"I'm sorry," He unconsciously said.

Jack shockingly released his hold and cupped the teen's flushed cheeks. He stared beyond the emerald eyes and into Oz himself. Oz's heart sped up some more, giving him a light-headed feeling. He felt the hands drop down from his cheeks but the eyes never left. He sighed, knowing that he'll probably tell the truth anyway. But before he could say what he wanted to say, he felt his face flush hotter. He never told anyone that he wanted to stay with them forever, especially a man. He felt uncomfortable telling Jack that he wanted to stay with him forever. It just sounded weird. Jack stared at the flustered boy. He first looked at him weirdly but, as if he read the teen's mind, he too blushed slightly. He held a hand, trying to cover the blooming blush on his face. _Great, I'm acting like Gil,_ thought the older Bezarius. Oz looked at him and saw another version of Gil. He saw the red blush across his face and he also saw that he was thinking really hard. He started to laugh at how ridiculously similar Jack and Gil looked like. Jack snapped back when he heard Oz laugh. He stared at the boy in his prime. He never saw Oz laugh so true. Then it hit him that Oz was probably laugh at him.

"**Oi!** What's so funny?" He pouted when Oz continued to laugh.

"N-Nothing, its just that you looked like Gil for a moment there!" He burst out laughing again, falling on his back and rolling on the floor.

Jack flushed a little hotter before crossing his legs and arms and pouting away at the hysterical teen. Though Jack wasn't really mad, he didn't want to ruin the chance of seeing Oz happy again. It was more relaxing to see the boy laughing away, even at himself, then to see such a grief boy. Oz found the strength to finally stop laughing and saw a pouting 'hero' of Sabrie. He smiled warmly at the sight. It made him happy.


	2. Newfound Confidence

Hmm'kay, if anyone wants to, listen to Imogen Heap's Hide and Seek. This is the song I used to get so freakin' emotional with this fic. Not much to say. I might a lemon version of this as an alternate ending thing. Though this depends on the reviews I get that about it :) Again, I hope you like it ^-^

*insert boring ol' disclaimer*

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Holding his hand out, he brought Jack's face to face him, to only look at him. He gently caressed his face, letting his emotions get to him. Jack stared at Oz, completely shocked at his actions. Though Jack didn't complain, did he? He was just surprised at how Oz seemed to mimic the same longing look that he held as well. He brought his hand up to softly grip the wrist. He pushed it closer to his cheek and felt himself lean into, as if he was trying to become one with the gentle hand. Oz was surprised at first but slowly accepted it, softly rubbing his cheek with his thumb. Jack copied the same thing Oz did as he brought his free hand to stroke Oz's cheek. He let his thumb rub his cheek until he accidentally touched his lips. Oz audibly gasped, frozen with slight fear. Jack saw the look of fear pass in his eyes and immediately pulled the warmth of Oz's hand and his hand away. No matter what situation, he was an adult and he would **regret **doing anything to Oz. He felt so guilt letting it happen.

Oz reacted with a sting of pain when Jack retracted from him. But when he saw that Jack wasn't even looking at him, he felt even more pain then before. _Did I scare him?_ Oz didn't want to scare Jack like that, he wanted him to be happy at the very least. He saw that Jack looked rather guilty. Oz figured that was it, why Jack withdrawn from him. He didn't want Jack to feel guilty. Merely, he was just thinking when it had happened. It took not a minute to realize that he cared for Jack the same way Jack felt for him. Grabbing one of the hand, entangling his fingers with his then straddling himself on Jack, he shyly kissed the older male. Jack was **wide-eyed.** Not only was his hand automatically holding on to his hand, he felt his heart relax and speed up over and over again. Slowly yet surely, he melted into the kiss and kissed the teen back, using his free hand and gripping softly the back of his head. He felt his hands release their grip and wrapped themselves around the small, frail body straddle on his lap. Both broke off when their supply of oxygen was slowly fading away.

Oz looked down as Jack looked up, greens eyes finally meet. It was like a game of _Hide and Seek_. Both of them were hiding everything in front of a shield yet they were both seeking for refuge. Well, they've finally found it…with each other, that is. Oz flushed as Jack caressed his face again. He felt himself go light-headed. In fact, he felt so light-headed that his mouth unknowing said what Jack always wanted to hear.

_"I-I love you, Jack,"_

Jack gaped at him, not realizing how surprised he was and how happy he felt. Oz stared at him until he realized what he had just said to Jack. Blushing madly, he tried hiding his face but ducking his head a bit and shyly leaning away from his hand. Jack encouragingly chuckled at the reaction. _He looks so cute_, Jack innocently thought. Oz looked at him, regaining his childish looks. Jack combed through the gold strands of hair, loving every little thing about him. He leaned into the boy, bumping forehead against forehead then silently closing his eyes, lingering the moment. Oz could only stay still. He saw a smile grace over the older male's face.

_"I love you too, Oz"_


End file.
